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Region in the spotlight: Free State & Northern Cape

Dewald Ranft, Free State & Northern Cape Regional Chairman as well as National Chairman of MIWA

A new leaf for MIWA

The implementation of the New Thinking Model of the RMI has started a new chapter for MIWA members with a fresh focussed approach on service delivery with industry specific products to enhance the commercial value proposition.

Dewald Ranft, Free State & Northern Cape Regional Chairman as well as National Chairman of MIWA, believes this will be achieved with the appointment of five new Relationship Managers nationally with the focus on retention visits to members. “This will provide a solid platform where member’s needs and requests can be addressed with the aim to build strong relationships with MIWA members. These Relationship Managers will be trained and up-skilled to act as the go to person, specifically to those members in far-away towns and smaller settlements. As MIWA we value all members equally irrespective of size or location,” says Ranft.

These activities from MIWA will be back-up by the trusted support of the RMI Bloemfontein staff in the form of Jacques Viljoen, Mark Erasmus and Paulina Sefuthi. Jacques has also taken on the additional responsibility of office manager in addition to his role of IR Specialist for the region. Louis van Huysteen, previous Regional Manager, has been appointed as the new Training Director for the RMI. MIWA members in his former region can expect training initiatives and projects of a high standard which will benefit their businesses to a large extent.

Meetings

MIWA had a few member meetings in the region and one was held in March at the Bloemfontein Scuba Club, providing a relaxed atmosphere. Karel de Waal from Fortron Automotive Investments SA presented information on Engine Cleaning Systems and Sean Fenn from Imperial Technical Training Academy gave an interesting overview on the training environment in South Africa with opportunities for members on training initiatives.

The MIWA Regional Committee had a meeting on 10 August at Swedo Tech in Bloemfontein which provided committee members with the opportunity to meet the new Director of MIWA, Pieter Niemand. The meeting was focussed on the implementation of the New Thinking Model and the new business model. Its strategy was discussed in detail as well as the unique challenges of the region, such as the demographic layout and how far distances could be accommodated to ensure a different service delivery to members.

MIWA say farewell to Gene’s Tune-up Centre

It is with sadness that the MIWA family in Bloemfontein had to bid Gene and Jenny from Gene’s Tune-up Centre goodbye after the closure of their workshop. Gene fell ill forcing them to close their business after 30 years of providing excellent service to the trade and public. Gene always had a love and passion for the bigger V8’s and we recall the times when he leant into the bonnet of these monsters to satisfy yet another customer. Gene will surely be missed and we wish him and his family the best of luck for the future.

The road ahead

Dewald shares the opinion of Jakkie Olivier, CEO of the RMI, in that small businesses in the automotive market have MIWA and the RMI on their side to take care of challenges and ease burdens. One of the aims of MIWA is to help small business owners attain their goals with limited effort so that they can focus on running cost-effective profitable operations. All it requires from members to make the most of the RMI’s membership benefits is to attend sector-specific meetings aimed at shaping the future of small business.